State of Grace
by GladysPotter97
Summary: Hayley joins the flock in the ultimate race to be the biggest bad-ass in town. But they always say, the new kid is never what they seem. When a certain blond haired, blue eyes mutant-teen catches her eye, Hayley's stone wall slowly starts to crumple. Action, adventure, lots of sarcasm and more than a few steamy make-out sessions. IggyxOC and some FAX in there too.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my new fanfic! I really hope you all enjoy it!**

**DISCRIPTION: "Can we touch it?" "It's not an it, it's clearly a she," "Not exactly as I can't actually see," "Should we not tell Max about it?" "It's a SHE!" "And it's awake," Hayley mumbled. "Whoa, it speaks," Iggy smirked. Hayley Tunstal was taken by the School almost four years ago. Now an on-the-run moody hormonal teenager, living with three other moody hormonal teenagers and being No. 1 on the School's most wanted list, things can only go downhill from here. **

**Can I just add, this prologue earned me an A when I handed it up for an English Essay, so I decided to Maximum Ride it up and share it with you guys!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own MR but I own Hayley**

* * *

PROLOGUE

'Just another lap of Harrison's and that's been four miles,' was the recurring thought going through Hayley Tunstal's mind as she was on her daily jog around her neighbourhood. Harrison's was the name of the large park at the back of her house, named after some ancient war hero that Hayley really didn't care about.

Harrison's was a regular training area for promising athletes, like herself, but Hayley's mother was always sceptical about her thirteen year old daughter going running in a park surrounded by large trees and easy access from the main road. But Hayley's mother was currently at work and wouldn't be back for another two hours, plenty of time for Hayley to get home, showered and hide any trace of training gear.

Hayley ran down the familiar path through the trees, Hayley loved running, it gave her time to think. She couldn't stand running in groups or with somebody else. Hayley liked to be able to hear herself think while going as fast as she wanted. She strongly disliked the idea of making conversation with someone who would only slow her down.

There was a sudden snap from one of the trees to Hayley's right, she chose to ignore it deciding that it was probably just a small animal, but she chose wrong. Hayley decided to quicken her pace slightly, 'just to get home quickly, yeah that's it, just to get back before Mom' Hayley thought.

There was another loud snap from Hayley's left this time. Hayley quickly stopped and looked left. She looked away but almost instantly did a double take. She must have been seeing things, she could have sworn that'd she'd seen what looked like a man, no a boy. Well it had a man's build, tall strong but a boy's face.

Hayley shook her head at the thought of someone actually being there, she was always alone here, she had never crossed paths with anyone in Harrison's before, let alone in the actual forest. She continued her run on the pathway.

There it was again, this time Hayley didn't stop to check if it was the same person, she ran faster than she ever had, probably renewing a couple of personal bests in the process.

Hayley was pretty much hyperventilating while she was trying to sprint back to open land, safety. But Hayley didn't see the small stump where an old tree once stood. She fell hard, harder then she expected. Hayley didn't fall to the side; she fell flat on her face. Hayley felt the dirt go into her eyes, and mouth as it hung open from the shock pain in her ankle.

Hayley sobbed slightly as she picked herself up, wincing from the stinging pain in her hands and the throbbing of her ankle. Hayley tried to run, but her ankle was being dragged behind her, causing her to clench her teeth tight to try and minimise the pain she was in.

There was an opening in the tree line of the forest. It's harder to track someone through a dark forest than to simply follow them on a pathway, Hayley knew that. Hayley didn't risk a look back, even if she was over reacting, she didn't care. Better to over-react than under-react, was the thought flooding Hayley's mind now.

Hayley veered off the path and into the forest, her pace was much slower than it had been before she had hurt her stupid ankle. Hayley could easily out-run anyone following her; she was the fastest person in her state under the age of sixteen. Hayley knew for a fact that she was faster than the under eighteen's title holder, but she was too young to even qualify for that age division.

The trees that surrounded Hayley were a great support whenever she stumbled, which was quite often in her condition. Hayley was coughing and groaning louder with every step she took. Her mouth was dry from all the dirt and leaves that she had spat out, her eyes now clear from dirt but still stinging like crazy from all the dirt's previous presence.

What Hayley didn't know was that the person following her was closer than she hoped. Her follower was above her in the trees, beside her in the bushes, waiting for her at the edge of the forest. It would have been easy to jump in and take her down now, but her chasers had been given strict orders. Orders to keep her running as long as possible, watch her try to escape even though she never will, see what she would do in an attempt to get away.

Hayley still thought she had a chance to get home, to get back before her mother and think of an excuse for her ankle. But deep inside, Hayley had heard stories of kids going missing in places nobody knew they were in. Those kids never getting to go home usually are found in a ditch somewhere, or in a body bag. Or even worse, kept alive but not being found for years and years.

'Stop it' Hayley scolded herself. Her jerk of a brother, Adam, liked to tell her stories to freak her out while they were home alone together if their mother had ever been working late or had gone out for the night, which was very rare since they moved a lot and her parents weren't exactly top of the social pyramid. Adam, being seventeen, loved to freak his younger sister out. He loved to see the terrified look in her eyes, but only for a moment before she thought of a smart come-back, usually involving sprinting away. That's all Hayley knew, how to run, and right now that wasn't really working out for her.

Hayley made a split second decision to change direction; she had run in sort of a right angle, hopefully confusing whoever was following her. Hopefully.

Hope wasn't working for Hayley as her followers had a nose for sniffing out a change of direction. Nevertheless, Hayley's followers were indeed impressed with how determined Hayley was to get away. She had been running for about four miles to begin with, she had sprinted about a quarter mile when Hank had slipped up and snapped a twig for a second time.

Now with a possible broken ankle and blurred vision, the Erasers couldn't help but be impressed, almost intimidated by this girl. She was equally as fit as an Eraser and that's without enhanced DNA, the School could do wonders with this girl, make an entirely different species, evolution with a helping hand. But no, the school were going to turn her into another bird freak, but only better than the good-for-nothing first draft.

The Eraser in the tree deliberately broke a branch. The sound wasn't only a signal for the other Eraser's to close in, but it caused something inside Hayley to snap also. Hayley knew she wasn't getting away, she knew she had been out run. But Hayley knew to never stop until the final whistle had been blown, and right now she heard no whistle.

Hayley soldiered on, she was no longer running the pain in her ankle had become too much, Hayley had decreased to limping while talking large slow strides with her ankle trailing behind her. Each step caused her to groan loudly, she currently didn't care about who heard her, who saw her, as her image had once been important to her, not anymore.

There was a soft thud from both behind Hayley and to her right. Hayley couldn't look, she couldn't chance it. An exhausted Hayley kept going; every groan and cry of pain had been replaced by a heart-breaking sob. Hayley grabbed hold of a large tree, her breathing was hysterical along with her cries.

Nothing seemed to be real for that moment, while Hayley clung to the tree, sobbing. Everything around her was somehow slowed and numb, in a way. Hayley felt the large arms go under her arms and around her neck, forcing Hayley into a head-lock, suddenly everything felt real again. Hayley screamed and kicked, begged for her release. But the arms never budged, though she could feel the hands of her captor begin to sweat. This gave Hayley new hope, hope that she might actually get away, but of course, Hayley was unaware of the other seven Erasers waiting in the trees.

Hayley could see the legs of the person holding her, she saw the knees. She lifted her own, good leg and kicked down hard on the person's knee-cap, this should either shatter or disconnect any normal person. But the person, she recognised to be a man from the low grunt he made, didn't fall to the ground, clutching his knee like he should have been. He just simply let go of Hayley, who fell limply to the ground, in shock.

Hayley, now face down on the ground, again, tried to get up, only this time somebody grabbed her ankles and began to pull her. The pain from the contact with Hayley's injured ankle was enough to make her cry out in agony, but the motion of being dragged backwards on the ground by a stranger had caused her cry of pain to turn into a scream for help.

Hayley helplessly grabbed onto the earthy ground, only making trails with her dirt filled nails. But whoever was pulling her wasn't losing his grip like the last guy.

There was a low voice booming demands at other people while Hayley squirmed and screamed. Hayley stopped being dragged along the ground, she couldn't even cry out as her ankle hit the ground hard, she was in so much pain everything was numb.

Hayley managed to get a glimpse at a guy, wearing all black, yelling orders to other people that Hayley couldn't see. There was something weird about his face, it almost looked half dog, or wolf? The strange wolf-man looked straight at Hayley. Hayley originally couldn't make out the emotion in his expression, he seemed to be excited, but not that he had caught her, but like he had won a prize and couldn't wait to gloat about it to someone.

"Boy, are they gonna have some fun with you," the wolf-man said excitedly, crouching down to look at Hayley better. But the excitement in the man's voice didn't match the expression in his eyes. The wolf-man was scared.

'But scared of what?' Hayley thought. 'Scared of me? Scared for me?' was the last thought to go through Hayley's mind before she plunged into darkness.

* * *

CHAPTER 1

***Four Years Later***

Hayley woke up to a shining light in her eyes. At first she thought she was dying, she hoped she was dying. But unfortunately it was only the night guard checking in on her. The guard lent down and Hayley recognized him to be an Eraser. Hayley flinched and leant as far away from the door of the cage as possible.

"Oh, does the little birdy not like the bright light?" the Eraser sneered at her in a sing-song voice. The Eraser locked his hands on the cage door and rattled it hard. Hayley flinched at the loud noise but said nothing.

The Eraser laughed evilly, and continued down the row of cages, though Hayley was the only one to be confronted by the twisted wolf-man. When the Eraser had left the room, Hayley was no longer in the mood for sleeping.

Hayley shifted her position to lying on her stomach facing the cage door, this way her wings weren't being squished and she got another chance to fiddle around with the lock. She had often spent hours rubbing the metal part of the lock against the side of the cage it was attached on to. She figured out about two months ago that if she continuously did this, tiny specks of shaved metal was falling off. It was a long-shot but it was possible that if Hayley kept doing this, the lock may eventually erode away.

But there was something funny about the lock, it was twisted at a funny angle, which had never happened before, there was only one way to put that lock on, Hayley had seen it done many times. But the lock was twisted in towards Hayley, the weak metal had been bent. It was weak from Hayley's attempt to erode it away and bent from when the Eraser had shaken the cage, with his strength and clear stupidity, he had possibly given Hayley an escape route.

"That idiot," Hayley smirked to herself. Hayley once again changed her position to on her back, not the most comfortable of positions, but it would work. She grabbed hold of the bars above her head, to give herself a bit more strength. Hayley brought her knees up towards her chest then violently kicked the door of the cage, it flew right off. Hayley grabbed onto the upper edge of the cage, once covered by the door, and swung herself out easily.

Hayley landed barely on her feet. Getting out had been simple but landing needed to be worked on. Hayley turned back to look at the empty cage and couldn't stop the victory grin from spreading across her face.

But Hayley couldn't smile for long when she suddenly realised that she had an audience. The tens of other test subjects were staring at her, eyes wide, mouths gaping and hands clutching the crossed bars of the cages they were trapped in.

Suddenly the subjects were bombarding Hayley with pleas of help with their escape, to take them with her, to save them. A flustered Hayley accidentally backed into a table full of different needles, containing different coloured liquids. Hayley crouched down to look at the needles that were now scattered all over the floor, hoping to get a name of some of the stuff these freaks were putting into her.

There was a shout from one of the hallways outside the room, Hayley knew it wouldn't be long before this place was swarming with scientists and Erasers. She had to act fast if she were to act at all. All the other subjects had gone dead quiet, terrified of what was to come. There was the clear sound of feet pounding down the hallway, the pair of feet was joined by another, then another, then another. Hayley didn't know how she was able to tell this, she just knew there were four guys, one scientist and three Erasers coming towards her, and fast.

Hayley grabbed a needle containing a milky white liquid, hopefully it could seriously injure and not give her captors some sort of super power, that would simply suck for Hayley. Hayley ran to the door at the opposite end of the room, just as the other one opened. Hayley didn't chance looking back, just kept her sights set ahead, to the stairs of the building. Hayley knew what she was doing.

Hayley ran as fast as she could through another set of doors, then another until she saw a sign showing the destination of the stairs. Hayley quickly ran left, and again through another set of doors, this time setting off an alarm. The Eraser's and the scientist were still hot on her trail, so Hayley picked up the pace.

When she came to the stairs and took them three at a time, 'having long legs were bound to come in handy at one point,' Hayley thought. Her hand was still locked tightly around the needle containing the mystery liquid inside. Hayley was usually pretty agile, so she didn't expect to fall suddenly and bang her head hard against a stone step above her.

Hayley groaned at the shock of the fall, it was nothing like her fall four years ago, she still had full working order of all her limbs, well, all the ones she needed at this time. Hayley shakily picked herself up, but noticed that the needle was no longer in her hand. Panic instantly swept over her until she saw the needle about four steps below her.

In the two milliseconds that Hayley had to decide whether or not to reach for the needle, she could see a hairy hand coming up the curved metal banister of the staircase. Hayley reached for needle, grabbed it and took off running again, holding onto the banister for support.

The School was mostly under-ground, but they did have one stoery above ground, and there was a flat roof. It had never been used before as it was only an emergency exit, but Hayley didn't know that there was only a fifty-fifty chance that it might actually open.

Hayley had finished with the stairs and banged through another set of doors. She had come out onto a marble floored hallway with spotless white walls with let off a blinding light. 'There must be another flight of stairs, somewhere,' Hayley thought. Hayley stalled for a moment, unsure of what to do, until there was a loud bang from behind her. There had to be about twelve Eraser's now but with them still the same scientist.

There was a glowing green sign for an emergency exit to Hayley's right, so Hayley went right. The Eraser's knew that this was where Hayley was going before she even did, so of course they already knew to go in that direction from the moment she got through the doors.

Hayley could hear the low growls of the Eraser's coming behind her. Hayley got to the emergency exit first and closed it tightly behind her. She again took the steps three at a time, but she was a little more careful, she wanted to get out of her alive, not in a body-bag.

It wasn't long before Hayley got to the roof-top door. It was a pull door, but Hayley never got a chance to open it as the scientist had pushed all his weight onto the door, stopping her from opening it.

"I don't think so, Sweetheart," the scientist smirked at Hayley.

"I'm nobody's Sweetheart," Hayley snarled, jabbing the needle into the side of the scientist's neck, injecting the mysterious white liquid. The scientist dropped backwards, sending several Erasers' back down the stairs like dominos, which would have caused Hayley to laugh under different circumstances.

Hayley took her chance and pulled open the door, she got out and ran to the edge of the roof. Hayley wiped out her wings and prepared to jump.

"Stop, you'll fall. You don't know how to use them, it's not time," the scientist wheezed from the doorway. He was blocking the Eraser's entry to the roof. The scientist knew that the moment an Eraser took a step closer to Hayley, she would jump, and the fall would be disastrous for the program.

"Well, necessity is the mother of invention," Hayley replied cockily to the scientist, who began fuming. "Oh and by the way, you look like you're growing a new head out of your neck, you should get that looked at," and with that, Hayley Tunstal jumped from the roof of The School with a pair of wings on her back that she had no clue how to use.

* * *

"Can we touch it?"

"It's not an 'it', it's clearly a she,"

"Not exactly as I can't actually see,"

"Should we not tell Max about it?"

"It's a SHE!"

"And it's awake," Hayley groaned sleepily at the voices. Hayley opened her eyes, she had been awake for a while, listening to the stranger's entertaining conversation and overall they were only curious and no immediate threat to her. She just hadn't opened her eyes yet.

"Whoa, it speaks," said the tallest stranger, with a slight smirk. He seemed to be looking just beside Hayley and not directly at her. He had strawberry blonde hair, or as Hayley had always said, he was a ginger in denial.

"Does it have name?" the smaller boy asked, he looked kinda like the tall one just different features.

"Okay, this is getting old," declared a pretty African-American girl with big brown eyes and curly dark hair.

"But seriously what's your name?" asked the little boy in a flat tone.

"Hayley, and you guys?" Hayley said a little unsure. The pretty girl smiled at Hayley.

"Cool, well I'm Nudge, this is Gazzy and the tall guy? That's Iggy," the girl introduced each of them with a huge smile plastered on her face. Hayley looked at them with an eyebrow raised unnaturally high. There was a pause before Hayley burst out laughing. She was doubled-over with laughter. Hayley even began to tear up a little. "Is there a reason you just started pissing yourself?" asked Nudge a little angrily.

It took Hayley a moment before she could respond.

"I'm sorry, but those are the most ridiculous names I have ever heard," Hayley laughed, she fell backwards again. "And I thought Ari was bad," Hayley continued, once she recovered a little.

"Coming from a girl named Hayley," Nudge grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh I'm sorry, but don't make fun of my name. It's what my Mom and Dad gave me, so blame your parents," Hayley said, wiping some left-over tears of laughter away.

"You know your parent's?" The little boy named Gazzy exclaimed. Before Hayley got a chance to reply, Iggy had stood in front of Nudge and Gazzy protectively. Hayley stood up in confusion, she didn't quite match his height, but she was close.

"How to you know Ari?" Iggy demanded.

"Huh?" Hayley and Nudge said simultaneously.

"How do you know Ari?" Iggy asked again, only this time through gritted teeth.

"You guys are from The School?" Hayley gasped. "Trust me to run into a trio of mutant freaks the minute I get away from it all," Hayley sighed.

"What do you mean 'get away from it all'?" Iggy quizzed.

"Do you really think I'd be wearing a dirty, blood-stained hospital gown if I had a choice?" Hayley asked smartly.

"How'd you get out?" Gazzy gasped eyes wide.

"Well, some dumb-ass Eraser thought it'd be a great idea to wake me up by shaking the cage. But the idiot didn't realise that he had dented the lock, ta-da, insta-way-out," Hayley smirked.

"So you're not an Eraser?" Iggy questioned.

"Would an Eraser be able to pull off these babies?" Hayley asked, still smirking while she turned around and unfurled her six foot long, golden brown wings, with a hint of dark green in random patches.

"Oh my God," Nudge gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. "I'm going to get Max!" with that Nudge ran out of the cave Hayley only now realised that they were all in. When Nudge revealed her wings, Hayley almost fell over. They were bird kids too, she wasn't alone. She wasn't the first, the first time Hayley had ever been thankful for not coming first in something before.

"I'm gonna go too," Gazzy admitted, sounding truly terrified before spreading his wings and following Nudge.

"And then there were two," Hayley muttered with a sigh, sitting down. Iggy remained standing, looking slightly uncomfortable. "I'll be honest, you're kinda intimidating standing there," Hayley shrugged.

"What did you mean before, about your parents naming you?" Iggy asked randomly. Hayley was taken aback by the sudden question, but decided to answer anyway.

"Did your parents not name you guys?" Hayley asked, answering Iggy's question but with a question of her own.

"Well since we're all from The School, we haven't really met our parents before. I have and Max has, but the rest haven't," Iggy shrugged, finally sitting down opposite Hayley.

"How many are there?" Hayley asked curiously.

"There are six of us. We've been together since the start. Max was kinda born into this, the rest of us were forced to develop the wings part since the day we were born," Iggy was staring at something in the distance; he was remembering something, a memory, a nightmare. Iggy shook his head and looked again beside Hayley. "What about you? Where do you come from?" Iggy continued with the questions.

"Well, I'm kind of a military brat. My dad was in the military, so we moved a lot. But when I was thirteen Eraser's pretty much bombarded me like twelve to one," Hayley shrugged. "That was four years ago now," Hayley's voice was distant, she wasn't completely there. She, like Iggy, was reliving a memory that was now resurfacing. Neither said anything while they relived their nightmarish past.

* * *

"Max!" Nudge screamed from outside the house. Max got up off of the sofa where she was sitting with Angel and Fang watching T.V. She was closely followed by both Angel and Fang.

"Oh my God!" Angel gasped, reading Nudge's mind.

"What is it?" Max demanded from either Nudge or Angel she didn't care.

"Angel let me tell for once," Nudge whined, Angel nodded and Nudge squealed with delight. "Okay so me, Gazzy and Iggy are flying with the eagles like we usually do in the morning. When we decided to take a break we went that cave where we usually go? You know the one with all the moss? Anyways, we found a girl in there!" Nudge clapped her hands together excitedly. Max was lost for words with was defiantly a first.

"Continue Nudge or I will," Angel threatened.

"Okay okay, so we start talking to this girl and her name is Hayley and she like totally laughed at our names, I know ultimate Killjoy! Anyways, she escaped from The School only like a couple of days ago! And you haven't heard the best part yet,"

"No kidding?" Max asked with a laugh. For Max, none of this was good.

"She has freaking wings!" Nudge exclaimed.

"Someone kill me now!" Max pleaded sarcastically.

"Don't mind if I do," spoke a low growl from the doorway, alongside the squirming Gazzy.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own MR but I own Hayley**

* * *

CHAPTER 2

Max and Fang instantly stood in front of both Nudge and Angel protectively. Gazzy was almost purple in the face from lack of oxygen and the Eraser holding onto him laughed at Gazzys expression.

"Let him go," Max snarled threateningly.

"How about we do an exchange?" the Eraser suggested with a smirk. "I'll give you preppy-boy here, in exchange for Ms Tunstal," the Eraser offered.

"Well it's a shame I'm not on the table," came a girl's voice from behind the Eraser. The Eraser didn't get a chance to turn around as Hayley turned his neck for him, instantly killing him. The Eraser fell to the ground, and unfortunately landed on top of Gazzy, who grunted slightly at the weight being dumped on of him.

Max pried the Eraser off of Gazzy then pulled him behind her protectively.

"Who are you?" Max demanded, taking in the tired yet alert girl who was standing in front of her. The girl was tall, taller than Max, which Max found intimidating. She was close to stunning when it came to looks. Her long, brown hair had natural waves which complimented her emerald green eyes, nothing like Max's boring brown eyes and curly dirty-blond hair.

"Hayley Tunstal, at your service," the girl smirked leaning against the door frame, and giving a half-hearted salute. Iggy came up to her and stood awkwardly beside her.

"Made a friend Ig?" Max raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously though Max, this girl is bad-ass!" Gazzy jumped in front of Hayley and faced Max. He was obviously still pumping with adrenaline from the Eraser attack.

Max looked at Hayley, then to Gazzy and back to Hayley, before raising an eyebrow.

"What can I say, the boy speaks the truth," Hayley gave a smug shrug of her shoulders. Fang couldn't hide his smirk, which made Max even angrier.

"Well then what makes you so 'Bad-Ass'?" Max demanded, putting her hands on her hips in protest.

"Well, I was kidnapped by Erasers four years ago. Escaped from my cage two days ago, injected some weird liquid into a scientist, still have no clue what happened to him by the way, managed to get to the flat roof of The School, did you know that it has five storeys under-ground? That's ALOT of stairs for someone on the lowest floor. Got to the edge and flew all the way here using my wings for the first time, ever," Hayley said in a slightly bored tone. "Guess you gotta make hay while the sun shines," Hayley shrugged.

Max seemed lost for words, which wasn't something that happened often.

"So what are you doing now?" Gazzy asked curiously. Fang gave Gazzy a warning glare, telling him that he was being rude.

"Well, I was hoping for some new clothes? Even though what I'm wearing is so non-mainstream, I'm just not really feeling it, you know?" Hayley asked Max with a small smile. Max just huffed then nodded her head for Hayley to follow her down the hall.

"What do you think we should do?" Iggy asked Fang quietly once they were alone in the hallway and everyone had gone off to do their own thing.

"I think I'm gonna call Dr Martinez," Fang thought aloud.

"Fang, thinking? The apocalypse must be near," Iggy joked, nudging Fang slightly.

"I'm rolling my eyes Ig," Fang sighed and walked into the living room looking for his phone. "Hey Ange, have you seen my phone?" Fang asked Angel who was sitting upside down on the sofa watching the T.V. Her face was flushed red because of all the blood that was now there.

"So you can call Dr Martinez?" Fang nodded. "I already did that, she and Ella are on their way," Angel said while flicking through the channels on the T.V.

"Why are you sitting like that?" Fang asked curiously, sitting beside Angel with Iggy on the other side of her.

"It simply makes watching T.V more enjoyable," Angel muttered as if the answer was obvious.

"You know," Iggy began. "It also makes you an easy target for this," Angel's eyes widened as Iggy's hands went around her waist and tickled her violently, but in a fun way.

"Iggy-stop-please I swear-I can't breathe," Angel squealed in-between tickles before Iggy let her go and she ran away screaming and laughing.

"What was the point on that?" Fang asked Iggy as he sat back on the sofa again.

"Now, my less-intelligent friend, we have the T.V controller," Iggy explained. There was a distant "Hey" coming from somewhere in the house, no doubt from Angel. Iggy laughed and Fang only smirked as they sat back and waited for Dr Martinez and Ella to show up.

* * *

Max walked down the hallway, assuming that Hayley was following her. Max didn't really like Hayley. So far Hayley had amused her humourless boyfriend, upstaged her in a fight, saved one of the younger members of the Flock, caused him to think she is total 'bad-ass' and looks like a freaking super-model.

Max walked into her bedroom and wandered over to the chest of drawers, containing all the clothes she had, which wasn't a lot. Max took out some black skinny jeans, a white tank-top and a spare bra because Hayley clearly wasn't wearing one. 'Slut much?' Max thought.

Max threw the clothes at Hayley who caught them with ease. Hayley sighed a little after shutting the door then lent against the wall.

"Max, I get the feeling that you don't like me very much," Hayley wondered aloud then looked at Max, waiting for an answer.

"I don't have to like everybody," Max mumbled, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall opposite Hayley, who was still holding the clothes.

"Look, I just need a place to crash before I find out where I'm going. One thing you need to know about me is, that I'm not a pack runner, or in this case flyer. I do my own thing, I come and I go and I don't look after anybody else unless I need them to survive," Hayley was giving Max a stern look, showing that she meant business. "I won't be here very long, hopefully less than a week...if that's okay with you," Hayley quickly added.

Max instantly felt bad for disliking this girl. She was truly on her own and was just looking for a change of clothes and a bed for the night. She didn't want anything more of the Flock and Max also liked the way she thinks.

"I know you said you're not much of a pack runner, but the Flock would never turn down another set of wings," Max stated, not meeting Hayley's happy eyes. "You can stay, if you ever want to leave then you know where the door is," Max then walked past Hayley, who was smiling slightly. Max shut the door behind her, allowing Hayley some privacy to change, and then headed into the living room.

Max didn't expect to be greeted by a love-struck bubbly Ella, an awkward Iggy, her concerned mother and Fang, who rarely showed any form of emotion.

"Max!" Ella squealed, running to Max and pulling her into a tight hug. As Ella pulled back, Max took in her appearance. Ella was still small, with long wavy brown hair that looked slightly dead in comparison to Hayley's glossy hair. She was in pink skinny jeans and a t-shirt of some boy-band Max had never heard of.

"Hey, Mom," Max smiled at her mother before pulling her also into a hug.

"How have you been, honey?" Dr Martinez asked Max, sitting her down on the sofa.

"I've had better days," Max confessed.

"And what about the other experiment?" Dr Martinez asked keeping her voice too low for anybody apart from Max to hear.

"Why don't you ask her?" came a voice from the doorway. Max was shocked that Hayley had heard her mother's question, but ignored it and stood up.

"Ehm, sorry how rude of me. Hello, my name is Valencia Martinez, I'm Max's Mom," Dr Martinez stretched her hand out to Hayley who only looked Dr Martinez dead in the eye.

"Dr Martinez?" Hayley asked, leaning against the door-frame, putting emphasis on Max's mother's title.

"I assure you that I have had no involvement with the school for seventeen years, Miss-" Dr Martinez said in a serious tone then trailed off, not knowing the name of whom she was speaking too.

"Tunstal, Hayley Tunstal," Hayley declared, still not accepting Dr Martinez's handshake, so she pulled her hand back and placed it on her lap.

Hayley looked at Dr Martinez for another moment before turning to look at Ella who was still attached to Iggy's side. Hayley seemed to be giving Ella a once-over, Hayley wasn't impressed.

"Ehm hi, I'm Ella," Ella smiled sheepishly. Again Hayley just started at Ella who was starting to get slightly uncomfortable.

"Hayley," Dr Martinez broke the silence, Hayley turned to face her. "How did you get to the School in the first place?"

Hayley stared at Dr Martinez for a moment before answering. "I was taken from my family four years ago. Erasers ambushed me, and the rest is history," Hayley trailed off still staring at the now shocked Dr Martinez.

"Did you have any siblings?" Dr Martinez continued on rocky ground.

"I have a brother, Adam is 21," Hayley admitted and Max was surprised at this news. Dr Martinez still seemed confused.

"Is he?" she didn't have to finish the question.

"No, they just took me," Hayley mumbled staring darkly at the ground. Dr Martinez sighed in frustration which caused Hayley to look up at her.

"It just doesn't make sense, why take you?" Dr Martinez wondered aloud.

"Well why wouldn't it?" Hayley declared suddenly, shocking everybody. "I was the best young female athlete in the State; I had been offered athletics scholarships to three of the greatest collages in the country. I had secured myself a space on team USA for the next Olympics! And you say it doesn't make sense," Hayley muttered the last line bitterly, leaning against the door frame again, folding her arms over her chest.

"I think I will call Jeb," Dr Martinez wondered in awe.

"You will do no such thing!" Max, Hayley, Fang and Iggy all shouted at once. Shocked at their synchronisation, everyone turned to look at Hayley, who was equally shocked.

"You know Jeb?" Max asked, confusion written all over her face.

"Well I could hardly know the spawn of the Devil and not the sperm donor himself now could I?" Hayley spat bitterly.

"So Jeb still works for The School" Iggy said darkly.

"Well who else would have attached these freakish things to my back," Hayley mumbled under her breath.

"Mom?" Max turned to Dr Martinez.

"M-Max, I had no idea! As far as I knew Jeb had long left The School a long time ago, as had Ari," Dr Martinez defended herself.

"Boy were you wrong," Hayley mumbled. Ella shot Hayley a dark look but Hayley didn't care to acknowledge it.

"I think it's time that you leave now Dr M, too much friction," Fang shrugged then motioned towards the door. Dr M held her head high a marched out the door. Ella reluctantly followed muttering a bye to Max.

Once they had left there was a strange silence. Hayley jumped at the chance to break it. "Well, what an exciting turn of events,"

* * *

"Max what's for dinner?"

"You're really asking me?"

"Iggy what's for dinner?" Angel re-addressed her question to Iggy who smirked slightly at how innocent Angel really was.

"Chicken casserole," Iggy declared, putting his final dish in the oven and taking off his oven-gloves.

"When will it be ready?" Angel continued to pester him.

"30 minutes," Iggy said after counting on his fingers, but everyone knew that was just for show.

"Ugh but Iggy I'm starving!" Angel whined.

"Well in half an hour you won't be!" Iggy declared. "Now out, the kitchen is closed until dinner is ready, scram!" Iggy declared ushering Angel and Max out of the kitchen, leaving it empty.

"You better not burn that buddy," Hayley smirked at Iggy as she came around the corner.

"Woman I have never burnt something edible in my life!" Iggy spoke with pride.

Hayley laughed at his immaturity.

"Whatever," she laughed and walked into the living room, Iggy closely following.

* * *

"Okay, you ready?"

"Is anyone ready to practically kill themselves?"

"Oh come on, I won't let anything happen to you, birds honour," Iggy held up this three middle fingers, holding down his thumb and little finger. Hayley wasn't buying it.

"Oh why are you making me do this?" Hayley asked shifting from one foot to the other, looking worriedly at the deadly drop in front of her. She had to yell over the roaring wind found so high up.

"Well you have to do it sometime," Iggy declared, slapping his hand on Hayley's shaky back "besides the worse that can happen is you wings getting stuck," Iggy shrugged.

"Okay, I'm outa here!" Hayley declared turning around but only walking into Iggy's shoulder, yeah she was that tall.

"No you're not," Iggy turned her around, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We'll do it together," Iggy decided, sliding his hand down Hayley's arm and placing his hand in hers. His touch sent shivers down Hayley's spine. She hoped he hadn't noticed, hadn't felt it, but Iggy felt everything.

"You ready?" Iggy asked taking a step closer to the cliff, pulling Hayley in tow.

"No," she squealed but she didn't feel as scared like she was before. She stepped towards the cliff.

"On three. One...two...THREE!" Iggy yelled, jumping off of the cliff and pulling a screaming Hayley with him. Iggy angled himself so that he was facing the on-coming ground and Hayley followed suit.

Free-falling was the most exhilarating experience Hayley had ever had. She felt amazing, falling at a million miles an hour seemed, somehow better than flying and that was hard to beat. Hayley felt that she weighed as light as a feather, nothing felt real but in an amazing way.

Hayley was snapped back to reality when Iggy screamed "NOW!" that was her cue to whip open her ready wings and soar upwards, and that's exactly what she did. Now in new but familiar territory, Hayley felt on top of the world. She felt unstoppable, nothing could beat this feeling. The best part, Iggy hadn't once loosened his hand from hers.

"Oh my GOD! That was incredible! Thank you so much!" Hayley admitted, a smile Iggy couldn't see plastered on her face. Without realising it, she had her arms wrapped around Iggy's neck and had him in a tight hug, which Iggy surprisingly returned. Their hug was brief but nice, Hayley pulled back awkwardly.

"Sorry, heat of the moment," Hayley laughed awkwardly. Iggy nodded his head, not sure of what to say. They stood in an awkward silence for a while.

"Come on, I think Nudge was baking brownies," Iggy gave his flattering half smile, and Hayley forgot to answer. "Hayley?"

"Oh right yeah, brownies! Got you! Let's go," Hayley stammered a couple of times, trying to remember what they were talking about. Hayley took off running then whipped out her wings and took off into the air, in the direction of her new home.

Iggy stood for a moment, enjoying the solitude. He replicated Hayley's motions and took off flying, still in awe at how amazing that girl was.

* * *

After having a new body in the house for almost two weeks was hard for Max to deal with. It was strange having another voice in the house, another mouth to feed, but the whole flock had learned to accept Hayley into their home surprisingly quickly.

Hayley was loving life with the Flock, until one day Jeb decided to pay a random visit to the house.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?" Bang.

"Hayley?" Bang.

"ANSWER ME YOU ASSWIPE!" Bang.

"I- Ow! Would you- Ow!" Bang bang bang.

At this point Max was sprinting down the hallway from her bedroom after that surprising awakening.

Jeb was laying on the floor his back against the hard wood with Hayley sitting on-top of him with her legs on either side of his waist. She was clutching his shirt and banging his head against the floor continuously. Under different circumstances Max would have laughed her butt of, but she didn't want blood on the floor so she and Fang, who had decided to grace them with his presence obviously woken up by the greeting Jeb received, pulled Hayley off of Jeb by taking an arm each. They dragged her back so there was a minimum of two meters between them and Jeb who was now picking himself up off the floor, rubbing the back of his head slightly.

"Ms Tunstal, how lovely to see you again," Jeb muttered bitterly. Hayley tried to lunge at Jeb again but Max and Fang held her back. Hayley was seething.

"Jeb what are you doing here?" Iggy who had just walked in asked.

"Can a man not pay his daughter a visit?" Jeb asked showing false concern of Max's well-being.

"Well she doesn't want you here so just run along to your petty lab and ruin more lives why don't you?" Fang spat out, well that was his daily word amount exceeded.

"Is Ari with you?" Max asked quietly.

"No he is out searching for you," Jeb explained pointing at Hayley whose eyes automatically widened.

Hayley had a new found strength and managed to release herself from both Max and Fang's grasp and lunged at Jeb. She got him to the floor and sitting on him in a similar position as before began to punch Jeb like there was no tomorrow. Iggy swooped in and snaked a muscular arm around Hayley's waist and pulled her off a now bloody Jeb.

" .GO!" Hayley screamed, itching to finish Jeb off, but Iggy held onto her tightly and held her as far away from Jeb as possible, but still in the same room, he didn't want to miss any of the action.

"You have caused quite the stir up amongst us in The School Ms Tunstal. Not many get out of their cages by themselves, kill three Erasers, a colleague and dear friend of mine, and get away with it. Albeit, kudos to you for making it this far on a pair of wings so alien to you," Jeb eyed Hayley in an impressed way. "We knew we had chosen wisely with you, but you just confirmed our suspicions," Max had never truly felt threatened by another experiment before, but Hayley was as Gazzy had put it, pretty bad-ass.

"What do you mean 'chosen wisely'?" Max asked suspiciously. Hayley, who was still wrapped in Iggy's arms, turned her head to look at Jeb, but instead of feeling angry she was scared. Without realising it Hayley was trembling, this only made Iggy hold her closer.

"Oh Max, you don't think we chose our experiments randomly now do you? We had been watching Hayley for three years previous to her being taken by The School. She was quite determined to get away that day in the forest now weren't you Hayley. Ran eleven miles, the last three on a fractured ankle, that's impressive, nobody can deny that," Jeb eyed Hayley as if she was some sort of amazing prize. Hayley hated it. "She's one-of-a-kind," Jeb marvelled under his breath.

"How is that? We have wings too, she's hardly original," Max shot at Jeb who was knocked from the trance he was in.

"Yes Max, she is just like the six of you, only better. Improved vision and hearing, that girl can hear like a hawk. Improved leg and thigh muscles, she was already exceptionally fast but now she's even faster. Do you really think she would have been able to navigate her way through The School for the first time and still beat our best Erasers if she wasn't enhanced? Think again, even you and Fang couldn't do that," Jeb was acting like a child who was explaining all the features of a new toy he had received from Santa. He was beaming with excitement.

"Get out," Iggy snarled through gritted teeth. Once again Jeb was knocked back into reality. "You're speaking like she's some sort of freak! Get out!" Iggy spat at Jeb. Fang stepped forward as Jeb stepped back towards the door.

"News flash son, she is one and so are the rest of you!" Jeb declared.

"The only freaks are the people who were sick enough to make us like this! Get out before I snap your neck myself," Iggy snarled. Jeb glared at the eldest flock members that were standing before him before resting his eyes on the now trembling Hayley, she was missing Iggy's touch and warmth, physically she was stronger that the rest of the flock, but mentally she was as weak as the little girl the School had kidnapped in the woods not so long ago.

"You could have been the best Hayley," Jeb shrugged his shoulders helplessly then left without saying another word.

* * *

"You heard him Iggy, I'm a freak!" Hayley cried throwing her arms up in frustration. Hayley was hovering in the air high above the house. Iggy was facing her, also hovering. They were far enough away from the house for no one inside to hear them.

"Who cares what Jeb says," Iggy declared moving closer to Hayley. "Jeb's an ass. You're not a freak," Iggy continued, Hayley said nothing. The wind was strong this high up it was hard to hear every word being spoken. Iggy said something else but Hayley didn't catch it.

"What?" Hayley asked loudly.

Iggy's lips moved again but a high gust of wind caused his words to float away.

"WHAT?" Hayley shouted.

"I DON'T THINK YOU'RE A FREAK!" Iggy yelled. Hayley was taken aback by his confession and Iggy turned a bright scarlet colour, he looked at the ground sheepishly. "Yeah," Iggy mumbled.

Hayley shifted her wings movement so that they were moving in sync with Iggy's wings. Hayley moved closer to Iggy and Iggy followed suit. Hayley wrapped her arms around Iggy's neck pulling him into a tight hug. She rested her head on his shoulder as Iggy wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Thank you," Hayley mumbled with gratitude, loving how warm and secure his arms felt around her, holding her in place.

"It's true," Iggy replied, rubbing the space between Hayley's wings. Hayley pulled back slightly, but Iggy's arms weren't budging from around her waist, so she was now in Iggy's arms her face inches from his.

Hayley's lively emerald green eyes were staring into Iggy's sapphire blue ones. Hayley could feel Iggy's warm breath fanning her face, sending chills all over her body. In her eyes, Iggy made the first move, closer to her.

Panic rushed through Hayley like wild fire. She shoved a surprised Iggy away from her, turned and flew back to the house. Torn and upset, Iggy reluctantly followed Hayley as the first of many rain droplets landed on his forehead.

* * *

**Links to Hayley and her brother Adam are on my profile C=  
Reviews are welcome **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for your patience**

* * *

CHAPTER 3 

Max was running around the house, looking for some batteries when Hayley and Iggy, both looking awkward and embarrassed, walked in through the kitchen door.

"We're going to my Mom's for a while," Max declared, not looking up from the drawer she was rummaging through. Iggy instantly stiffened at the mention of Dr. M.

"Why?" Iggy asked. Max stood up and looked at Hayley and Iggy, she knew what had happened, and she didn't like it. But Max thought it best not to make the rational decision and yell at Iggy. She kept herself cool and collected and answered Iggy's question.

"Well, if what Jeb said is right, then I don't want us to be here if Erasers decide to come sniffing around," Max shrugged and picked up some batteries she had discovered. She pushed them into the now working flash-light. "Pack a bag Ig, you know what only essentials, nothing valuable. Hayley, you don't exactly have anything, so you can just help," Max suggested before walking out of the room to go and 'help' Fang.

Iggy turned to Hayley and wished that he could see what her expression was like.

"I'm gonna guess that Ella will be there," Hayley said quietly once herself and Iggy were in his bedroom.

"Yeah," Iggy sighed, running a hand through his strawberry blond hair.

"So, what are you two like? I mean, are you together or what?" Hayley mumbled in a barely audible voice, while fiddling with the hem of her shirt, something she almost never did.

"No, most certainly not together," Iggy shook his head, as if trying to get rid of the slightest possibility of that occurring.

"You know we can just, you know, pretend that never happened," Hayley suggested, waving her hand at the window even though Iggy couldn't see it.

"I don't want to have to pretend anything with you," Iggy said softly, he was now standing behind Hayley and slowly, unsurely, took her hand. Hayley turned around and looked up at Iggy, who was almost a head taller than her even though Hayley was the same height as Fang.

"I could do without another enemy, Iggy. I don't want to add Max's sister to that list," Hayley mumbled desperate to hope Iggy saw the message she was trying to convey.

"Well your one of us now, and she'll have to just deal with it," Iggy mumbled pulling Hayley into his chest, a move that Hayley greatly appreciated. The hug wasn't longing or romantic, it was reassuring. It showed Hayley that no matter what, Iggy wasn't going to let this thing they had slide, their friendship. Hayley wasn't his second choice, and she liked that. It gave her a sense of comfort, that Iggy would be her rock through all of this.

* * *

"You almost ready," Max asked as she snaked her arms around Fang's waist, she caught him as he was turned away from the door. Max knew that Fang could probably have heard her come in, but she was in blissful ignorance as she saw Fang smirk slightly. Max was sure to have shut the door when she had come in.

"I'm gonna miss this place," Fang confessed once he had turned around, still in Max's arms. Fang moved a piece of hair from in front of Max's face and slid it behind her ear. Fang didn't move his fingers from Max's cheek. Instead he trailed them down her neck and across her shoulders until he reached her elbows. Fang's touch had sent involuntary shivers down Max's spine. Fang smirked again; delighted that he had that kind of effect on his girlfriend.

Max moved her arms to around Fang's neck and Fang was all too quick to lift her up so she could wrap her legs around her waist.

"What are you going to miss about it?" Max asked teasingly as Fang was walking slowly backwards so he could sit on the edge of his bed with Max sitting on his lap.

"For starters," Fang said once they were sitting on the bed. "We can't do this with your Mom in the house," Fang began to leave kisses along Max's jaw-line. "Or this," he continued after lifting Max up and placing her on her back on the bed. "Or this," Fang planted a deep kiss on Max's lips. Fang desperate for control, and Max eager to give it to him, slid his tongue into Max's mouth. Fang's battle for control never lasted long as Max usually just gave into him not that either was complaining.

Unaware to the couple blinded by lust, three very guilty young flock members stood outside the door to Fang's bedroom, snickering and making gagging motions as they listened to every part of Fang and Max's 'conversation'.

* * *

"Hey Max, where does you Mom live?" Hayley asked as the Flock began to file out of the house they had grown to love. After being thoughtful for a moment, Max had an answer.

"On the border between Virginia and New York," Max nodded her head slightly, but something about the Hayley's sharp intake of breath made Max snap around.

Hayley had paled as white as paper and her eyes were the size of saucers.

"Hayley," Max began cautiously. "Where are you from?"

"I'm an army brat," Hayley's voice was barely audible as she mumbled out her response while staring at a spot on the floor.

"Where were you taken from?" Max pressed a little farther.

"Harrisons Park, twenty minutes south of New York City," Hayley choked.

"You don't think..." Max trailed off as Hayley slowly lifted her head in her direction.

"What are the odds?" Hayley shrugged her rhetorical question, turned on her heal and walked out of the room. There was something different in Hayley's voice that stirred Max's curiosity. It was as if all Hayley had just said had a hidden meaning, Hayley wasn't telling the Flock something, something important. But Max decided not to push the delicate subject even a question farther. When Hayley is ready, she would tell them. But until then Max had to play ignorant and not tip off Hayley that she knew something was up.

* * *

"I'm so happy to see you all," Dr. Valencia Martinez greeted the Flock with a warm hug each, though understandably reducing Hayley's greeting to a warm smile, which Hayley half-heatedly returned.

"You don't mind if we stay for a bit, do you?" Max asked as herself and The Flock filled into the narrow hallway.

"Don't be silly, Max. You all are welcome here any time," Dr. M smiled at everyone as a new face appeared around the corner. Ella's eyes lit up at the sight of her sister and the boy who she was obsessed with.

"Oh my God! I never knew you guys were coming!" Ella squealed. The sight of her triggered the idea of a migraine for Hayley. Hayley breathed in deeply through her nose and silently counted to ten, just a trick she learned when dealing with people who severely annoyed her, Ella being one of those people.

"Yeah, we needed new scenery," Max shrugged, obviously not wanting to let on the fact that they were really hiding from Erasers. But Ella was an intelligent girl, she knew something was up.

"How about we all head into the sitting room?" Dr. M suggested ushering everybody into the living room and onto the three sofas' that sat there. Dr. M and Ella sat on a two-seater, Hayley, Iggy and Nudge sat on a sofa for three and Max, Fang and Gazzy on the other. Angel opted for the floor, where she sat cross-legged while Total, the Scottish terrier, sat with her. Total had been living with Dr. M since the Flock had found him all those years ago. They had put up with his smart-ass back-talk for long enough.

"So why are you really here?" Dr. M eyed Max with a knowing look. All eyes turned to Max and for the first time in a long time, Max began to stutter from the pressure.

"Let me cut to the chase," Hayley sighed in frustration. "Jeb came to the house, I pounded the shit out of the back if his head. He confessed that Eraser's had been swarming the place looking for me. So here we are," Hayley declared in a bored tone before sitting back in the sofa. She was unnecessarily close to Iggy but neither Iggy nor Hayley seemed to mind. Ella glared at Hayley; she envied her being so close to Iggy. But Hayley just sent a quirky wink in her direction. Oh how Hayley loved to piss her off.

"Well then isn't it obvious?" Ella declared leaning forward in her seat and resting her elbows on her upper legs. "They want Hayley, so just give them what they want. The School haven't bothered you guys in almost a year and now little Miss indestructible comes flying in and screws everything up," Ella declared, shocking everybody in the room, except Hayley. Hayley could read Ella like a book.

"Language Ella," Dr. M hissed.

"Why don't we give them you? See how you survive. I say you wouldn't last a week," Hayley snarled at Ella after sitting back up in her seat. The whole room was silent, scared to intervene. Eyes were darting between Hayley and Ella like they would while watching a tennis game.

"Wanna bet?" Ella glared at Hayley.

"How about your Mom here gives Jeb a call?" Hayley cocked her head to the side; her large green eyes were narrowed into slits. Ella was taken back at how easy it really would be for her to end up in the School, end up on a lab table with fifty scientists poking at her.

"Enough," Dr. M declared, as she stood and glared at Hayley. Neither she nor Ella seemed to like her very much. "If you want to pick a fight Ms Tunstal, please be smart enough to not do it in this house, unless you want to end up back in the School," Dr. M snarled at Hayley.

"Is that a threat?" Hayley laughed in disbelief as she stood to tower over Dr. M. "I've out-smarted the School once, I can very easily do it again," Hayley declared showing no fear. Not letting on that she was truly terrified of the School that she probably would end up back there if she wasn't careful.

"Hayley," Iggy's soft voice murmured in her ear. Hayley knew she had to stop, so she did. Iggy had taken her side, and Ella knew it. Both Hayley and Dr. M sat back in their seats and proceeded to glare at one another.

* * *

"You know pissing off Ella wasn't really the way to go if you want to be on her good side?" Iggy said with a hint of amusement in his voice as he leant against the door frame of the room Hayley, Nudge and Max were sharing. Nudge and Max were downstairs with the rest of the Flock. Hayley had used the bathroom excuse to get away from everyone; of course she had told them that over an hour ago. She had retreated to the bedroom to read a book she found on the bookshelf in the hallway. Iggy's voice hadn't startled her, she heard him declare his departure from the sitting room.

"Well she had it coming," Hayley shrugged. "Could you close the door? There's a draft," Hayley spoke not looking up from her book and remaining on her stomach on the single bed, which was surprisingly comfortable.

Iggy closed to door and walked further into the room. He decided to lean against the wall parallel to Hayley's bed.

"Did she really?" Iggy asked raising an eyebrow. Hayley sighed and looked up from her book.

"I'm rolling my eye's Ig," Hayley's exasperated tone was clear as she reluctantly got off of the bed and stood up straight. Iggy chuckled lightly. There was something about Iggy's appearance that was bothering Hayley, something wasn't right. Hayley, like her mother, had always been a bit of a perfectionist. The hood of Iggy's hoodie was tucked into the back of the sweater instead of lying on top of it.

Hayley slowly made her way over to Iggy. "You know, your sweater has been bothering me all night," Hayley smirked slightly as she put her hands around Iggy's neck and lifted the hood out from underneath. When she was finished, Hayley left her hands on Iggy's shoulders.

"Better?" Iggy asked quietly.

"Lots," Hayley mumbled, as she sub-consciously moved closer to Iggy. Iggy did the same. Hayley didn't feel scared like the last time, she kept moving until her lips were centimetres away from Iggy's.

"I can't believe you guys get to share a room, and I'm by myself!" A complaining voice and the loud bang of the door being shoved open made Hayley jump away from Iggy and turn a scarlet red. Iggy was a similar colour. "Oh," Ella squeaked at the sight if Iggy then glared at Hayley. The thought of what Hayley and Iggy could have been up to began flooding Ella's mind. She took in a deep breath and turned to Max, who she had been talking to.

"Oh hey guys," Max said a little awkwardly but proceeded into the room, trying to minimise the awkward atmosphere. Ella, regaining her composure decided to take a jab at Hayley.

"The boys aren't allowed in the girls' room after ten," Ella declared, placing her hands on her hips and trying to act superior.

"Bet that's never stopped you though," Hayley said simply while sitting back on the bed leaning on the back-board and picked up the book again. Iggy couldn't control his laughter, after losing it for a moment he tried to regain control again but continued to snicker only slightly. If looks could kill, Hayley would have been murdered three times over by Ella in that moment.

"That's my book," Ella snapped, pointing to the book Hayley was reading. Hayley just held it up with a smile on her face. Ella stalked over to Hayley, snatched the book and walked out with a final slam of the door. There was a moment of silence before Iggy and Hayley burst into laughter. Max, trying to control herself, insisted that it wasn't funny, even though she was struggling to keep from wetting herself.

Max after a minute of deep breathing to control her laughter, headed out after Ella to apologise on Hayley and Iggy's behalf. Iggy and Hayley continued to laugh for a moment before their laughter gradually died down.

Hayley could hear all the kids and Dr. M getting up and heading upstairs to bed.

"See you in the morning," Iggy smiled slightly even though he couldn't see Hayley he knew she was smiling slightly too. Iggy headed for the door. As he put his hand on the handle, Hayley called out for him to wait a moment.

As Iggy turned, he was greeted with Hayley's soft lips lightly touching off of his. The feeling was amazing; Iggy felt all his cares and worries go away in that moment as Hayley's lips met his. He felt electricity spark through him and Hayley felt it too.

"Goodnight," Hayley smiled slightly after she pulled away. Iggy has no words; all he could do was nod his head and smile like an idiot as he left the room and walked down the hall to his room, feeling like he was on Cloud 9.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for any mistakes, it's been a while **

CHAPTER 4

* * *

"Hayley do you like chocolate chips on your pancakes?" Dr. M asked Hayley as she walked into the kitchen the next morning. Everybody except Max and Fang were in there, of course nobody knew what those two were up to. Iggy and Gazzy were in deep conversation but Iggy's head popped up and turned to the doorway as soon as Hayley's name had been mentioned.

"I'm sorry, what?" Hayley asked Dr. M to repeat the question.

"Would you like chocolate chips on your pancakes, I'm making them for the kids and thought everyone may as well have them," Dr. M smiled slightly. But Hayley didn't fully understand what she was asking.

"I don't think I've ever had a pancake," Hayley smiled slightly sheepishly. There was a stunned silence in the room as everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Hayley as if she was talking a foreign language.

"Well somebody get this deprived girl a pancake!" Gazzy declared and Dr. M smiled and turned back to the hob while everyone laughed. Hayley sat down next to Iggy and he instinctively took her hand in his under the table.

"Have you seriously never had a pancake?" Iggy asked in disbelief.

"Never," Hayley shrugged. "My Mom worked six days a week, my Dad was hardly ever home and I was an athlete, I couldn't afford the extra weight," Hayley explained.

Across the table Ella was sickened by the mediocre sob-story Hayley was selling. Ella and Hayley had a mutual hatred towards one another, which was more than obvious. Even though Max had said that she was sorry and so was Iggy and Hayley, Ella didn't accept Hayley's apology.

Dr. M placed a fresh chocolate-chip pancake in front of Hayley and handed her a knife and fork.

"Enjoy," Dr. M mumbled.

"Thank you," Hayley said sincerely, Dr. M was slightly stunned at the first sign of manners that morning. She smiled slightly as she walked back to clean up the pan.

Hayley reluctantly let go of Iggy's hand and proceeded to pick up her cutlery. On placing the first piece of pancake into her mouth, she felt as if she was eating a slice of heaven.

"Oh my GOD!" Hayley declared eating more pancake.

"Is it good?" Iggy asked.

"Amazing," Hayley laughed along with Iggy.

"What's amazing?" Max asked, wandering into the kitchen holding Fang's hand. Who knows what those two had been up to this morning?

"Max, these pancakes, you have to try one!" Hayley exclaimed. To this Fang actually smirked slightly.

"Well, Max has lived off pancakes for like three years. Iggy makes the best ones," Fang told Hayley while he and Max sat down at the table beside Ella.

"You can make these?" Hayley turned to Iggy. Iggy nodded proudly. "Then why haven't you made them before?" Hayley asked in disbelief.

"I've been watching my weight," Iggy smirked. Hayley nudged him playfully with her elbow and continued to eat her pancake.

"Is that the first time you've had one of those?" Max asked slightly stunned. Hayley nodded. "That's un-American," Max declared.

"Here, here!" Gazzy announced and Max high-fived him across the table.

* * *

"Guys, I'm just heading to the store with Nudge, Gazzy and Angel. Please don't burn the house down while I'm gone. Iggy you're the only one allowed in the kitchen, I'll be back in an hour," Dr. M announced to Ella, Hayley, Iggy, Max and Fang who were lounging in the living room watching a movie. Iggy pumped his fist in the air when Dr. M mentioned him, causing Hayley to be woken up from her sleep using Iggy's shoulder as a pillow.

"Oops, sorry," Iggy mumbled.

"S'okay," Hayley mumbled sleepily as she sat back up, only to be brought closer to Iggy by the man himself. There was a loud bang as the front door was closed and a dead silence flooded the house.

Max un-muted to TV and they began to watch the film again or in Iggy's case listen.

"What'd I miss?" Hayley whispered to Iggy.

"Well, the fat guy's dog died, and there was something about a sandwich and that's all I can remember," Iggy admitted.

"Fall asleep too?" Hayley gave him a knowing look even though he couldn't see it. Iggy nodded and Hayley laughed.

* * *

When the final credits were rolling Hayley stood up and stretched. Max and Fang were sleeping soundly against one another and Ella had vacated the room to take a call from her friend from school.

"Come on," Hayley declared, holding out her hands to Iggy who seemed reluctant to get up. Iggy sighed.

"Why?" Iggy asked.

"For me?" Hayley asked sweetly. Iggy took Hayley's hands to help him get up. Hayley led him out the room and headed upstairs to the bedroom. After being at Dr. M's for almost a week, the bedroom was just another place for Hayley and Iggy to hang-out and rarely be pestered.

Iggy collapsed onto Hayley's bed, tired of doing nothing. Hayley collapsed onto of Iggy with a small laugh as she landed.

"Man I'm bored," Iggy mumbled, running a hand through Hayley's hair as she rested her head on his rising chest.

"Intelligent people are never bored," Hayley smirked slightly, to this Iggy chuckled.

"Have you seemed my GPA?" Iggy asked, faking hurt.

"Do you even have one?" Hayley asked with a laugh.

"Good point," Iggy laughed with her.

"Let's go for a run," Hayley declared, sitting up and facing Iggy who remained on his back.

"You are joking, right?"

"No, I'm being serious," Hayley told him flat out. "Let's go for a run, loosen out the muscles a bit," Hayley told him.

"Mine are loose enough," Iggy declared putting his arms behind his head and sighing in content.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Hayley pushed, standing up and holding Iggy's hand even though he remained on the bed.

"Exercise, fun? Were you dropped on your head as an infant?" Iggy smirked slightly. Hayley gasped on mock hurt. She decided to sit back on the bed, only this time sitting on top of Iggy, straddling him with a devious smile on her face. "What are you thinking?" Iggy asked suspiciously.

"You and me, alone in the woods, nobody to walk in on as at the wrong moment," Hayley spoke smoothly, each word bringing her closer to Iggy, until she was inches away from his lips. Iggy reached up and gave Hayley a tender kiss on the lips.

"I'll meet you downstairs," Iggy told her, then proceeding to get up and run to his room to change.

Hayley and Iggy's relationship hadn't progressed onto anything above the odd light make-out session, neither of them was complaining though, they were doing things at their own pace and it worked. Both Hayley and Iggy knew that nothing would really happen this afternoon, but the idea of getting away from the chaos of the house for a couple of hours were a good idea.

Hayley quickly threw off her jeans and pulled up a pair of shorts, ideal for exercise. Dr. M had made sure that all of the Flock had enough clothes to keep them going. In Hayley's case it was the same clothes Max had given her the day she had first met them, a pair of shorts and a couple of tank tops, not forgetting the essential zipper hoodie to hide the whole wings situation. Hayley could run in her converse, they were battered enough, so a light jog through the forest wouldn't really affect them. Besides she had ran in worse.

After meeting in the upstairs hallway, Hayley and Iggy headed down stairs holding hands. Max and Fang looked up at them when they entered the sitting room, they had eventually woken up after their long nap on top of one another. Ella though, kept her eyes on the television screen.

"Well, we're going for a run," Hayley told them. Max looked concerned slightly.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" she asked looking out the window.

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Being cooped up in here I think is driving us both nuts," Iggy admitted and Fang nodded, understanding the reason behind Iggy's words. Fang understood that Hayley and Iggy needed to be away from the house, away from Ella. They needed time to themselves, and Fang could respect that.

"We'll tell Dr. M where you've gone," Fang nodded at Hayley.

"Thanks. Let's go," Hayley nodded back then all but skipped out of the room pulling Iggy with her.

* * *

Running made Hayley feel on top of the world, it was a huge step-up from running from somebody to running with somebody. Iggy and Hayley had hit the path through the forest at a strong pace. Four years ago, this would have been Hayley's 80 per cent, now it was her 30, and she knew it too. Though for Iggy, it was his 45, but Iggy stuck with Hayley the whole way, not letting her see any form of weakness from him.

Just because Iggy couldn't see didn't mean that he couldn't properly navigate his way just as well as the next person. Bearing this in mind, Hayley had decided to stick close to Iggy, making him aware of little things that he may not pick up on, like a small hole or a branch sticking at a funny angle. Iggy was very grateful for Hayley's awareness of him and his well-being.

After about six miles at the same pace, Iggy began to get tired, and Hayley knew it. There was a huge difference between a person's 30 per cent and their 45, and it was important to know that. There is no point in giving your 80 per cent for a couple of miles and then going back down to 40 for the remainder. To be a good runner, you have to be good at pace-making. At this, Hayley was a pro.

Without letting on, Hayley brought her pace right down to Iggy's 30 per cent. It was clear what that was, not much slower than before, but still a manageable pace. It was important to know the pace of your partner of your running in groups.

The forest trial wasn't a full circle more of a semi-circle, so instead of ending up just a couple of yards away from Dr. M's driveway, they were about three miles away. Iggy and Hayley would have to run on the main road to avoid having to repeat another six miles.

"You don't mind running on the road, do you?" Hayley asked once she and Iggy had made it to the tree line of the forest.

"Sounds good to me," Iggy struggled to breath he was so pumped.

"We can always walk," Hayley suggested, placing a concerned hand on Iggy's upper arm.

"No, I swear I'm fine," Iggy nodded turning a worrying shade of crimson.

"Okay then," Hayley said still not buying the fact that Iggy would make it to the house, but it was his choice, so she had to respect that. Hayley dis go at a very slow pace, Iggy was clearly greatful.

They remained side by side until a van came driving slowly by, causing Hayley to pull back in behind Iggy to ensure that she wouldn't be hit. When it had passed she returned to her previous position beside Iggy.

Some runners are often sceptical of passing vans, though who could blame them. Four years ago, Hayley had stuck by the policy 'One's a random, two's a coincidence and three's a pattern' when passing cars were involved. But now, after everything that had happened, when the same van drove by for the second time only heading the opposite direction, Hayley started to panic. From her experience so far since being taken, nothing was a coincidence.

"Iggy?" Hayley touched his arm to stop him once the van had driven around the corner.

"What's wrong?" Iggy turned to face her.

"We're being followed," Hayley choked out. Without hesitating, Iggy turned to the left and into the depths of the forest. He held onto Hayley's hand tightly as he navigated their way through the forest, swerving around trees and jumping over logs. Hayley had no time to question how blind her boyfriend really was when the loud bang of a shot gun echoed through the trees, startling all the birds in the trees and resulting in a dead silence in the forest.

Iggy and Hayley had stopped in their tracks until the echo had died down.

"Come on!" Iggy declared, sprinting through the trees, away from the noise. Hayley felt dead inside, she felt as if her legs weren't really working, that she had no control over them anymore.

Flashbacks of when she was taken were replaying in her mind, that afternoon in Harrisons' running, and running and running. So much pain she had been in, every step had felt like stepping on hot irons as her legs had burned with every move.

Iggy's previous tiredness had been abandoned the moment Hayley confessed her suspicions. The trees were too close together to spread their wings and take their retreat to the sky. There was a loud rustling from above Iggy and Hayley in the trees, which caused Hayley to look up whereas Iggy kept his hears down and concentrated on navigating their way back.

There was an ear-bursting bang of a shotgun; from the moment somebody had pulled the trigger time seemed to slow down. Iggy had stopped in his tracks and felt his heart in his throat. Hayley's hand quickly slipped from his as a loud thump of a person landed behind them.

Iggy spun around and came face to face with a hairy, smelly Eraser. Iggy went into full battle mode planting a round-house kick on the side of the Erasers face. But the Eraser quickly ducked and took a jab at Iggy who still had his leg in the air. Iggy fell backwards on his back but quickly got up and punched the Eraser directly in the face. The Eraser went down like the tonne of bricks that he was and Iggy got on top of him and continuously punched him.

As Iggy was about to deliver one final blow to really finish him off, Hayley's cry made him instantly stop. Iggy shot up and spun around to find that he was alone in the forest. Panic rushed over Iggy as he couldn't hear Hayley anywhere.

"Hayley?" Iggy called out. There was nothing but silence. A low grunt coming from Iggy's far right caused him to turn. Following the grunt came a pained cry from Hayley.

"Iggy, help me!" Hayley seemed to sob. Iggy sprinted through the trees trying to find Hayley. There was another low grunt only louder this time and a small thump. Somebody had fallen down and Iggy prayed that it wasn't Hayley who had fallen.

There was a loud rustle coming towards Iggy and he was ready to fight. As Iggy was ready to fight, Hayley was running for her life. She was back in Harrisons, back in New York, she was thirteen again.

Blood was trickling from her shoulder from where an Eraser's gun had shot her. Hayley didn't know where she was going anymore, she was scared and lost. Tears were matching her flow of blood and were flooding down her face.

Somebody was desperately calling out her name and Hayley knew the voice, she recognised it but couldn't tell who it was. Hayley tripped slightly and fell against a tree. She cried out in pain as the hard tree connected with her badly injured shoulder.

Like last time, Hayley soldiered on. But the person chasing Hayley wasn't out to hurt her, he wasn't chasing her to cause her pain. He was trying to catch up with her, trying to save her from the threat at hand which was the Erasers.

Finally Iggy heard Hayley; he knew she was less than a meter in front of him. Iggy reached out and managed to wrap an arm around Hayley's waist. Hayley cried and screamed and kicked and yelled, but Iggy wouldn't let Hayley go.

"Please let me go, please," Hayley pleaded. He held her tightly waiting for her to calm down.

"Shh, Hayley it's me Iggy, it's ok," Iggy tried turn Hayley to face him but was shocked to find a hot, sticky liquid spilling from her shoulder.

"Please let me go, please," Hayley pleaded Hayley again. Iggy was confused at first but only then realised how traumatic this must actually be for Hayley. She was taken from to woods where she was attacked and now she had been the subject of yet another attack in the woods.

"Hayley, Hayley please calm down," Iggy didn't mind begging. "It's me Iggy, you friend. I'm not going to hurt you I promise," Hayley's breathing was still shaky but she had stopped struggling.

Hayley felt a sense of relief flood through her as she heard those words. She cautiously turned around and saw Iggy standing in front of her, a worried expression was clear on his face.

"Oh thank God!" Hayley breathed out, pulling her good arm around Iggy's neck and her bad arm around his back, holding him tightly against her. Iggy instantly wrapped his arms around Hayley, rubbing a soothing hand in the space between her wings as she cried into his shoulder. "Iggy it was horrible," Hayley sobbed. "There were so many," Hayley shuddered at the memory. Iggy knew that today there were only two Erasers in the forest with them, but Hayley must have been remembering the time she was taken, her first ever encounter with their world.

After a couple of minutes, Iggy felt some blood run onto his hand. He pulled away from Hayley and held up his hand for Hayley to see.

"Iggy what happened to you hand?" Hayley gasped.

"It's not mine," Iggy mumbled, as Hayley began to realise what he meant. Before Hayley had a chance to check her shoulder there were two low growls coming from behind both Iggy and Hayley.

"It will be in a minute," snarled one of the Erasers.

"And how do you plan on executing that plan?" Iggy snapped at the Eraser who was less than a meter away from him, on his left. Iggy and Hayley were standing back-to-back, both ready to fight.

"Ever heard of a wolf pack?" the Eraser smirked at the two bird-kids as over a dozen other Erasers' emerged from the trees around Hayley and Iggy. Hayley began to tremble and Iggy knew it must have been bad.

"What do you want from us?" Iggy asked darkly, not sure which Eraser he was speaking too.

"Don't worry specs, we're only interested in the girl," one declared from Iggy's right hand side. Iggy felt Hayley tense beside him. He couldn't let the Eraser's take her again, not here. Iggy figured that since the Eraser's were most likely surrounding them, he had a pretty big space to work with since Eraser's were clumpy and needed space to stand.

Quick thinking was truly something Iggy was good at. Iggy spun around, wrapped his arms around Hayley's waist, whipped out his wings and pushed off the ground and into the air. Thinking that he had done it, thinking that they were free from the Eraser's for at least a moment, Iggy wasn't expecting to loose Hayley suddenly from his grasp.

Sharply by the foot, Hayley was pulled from Iggy's iron grip and she was sure she heard something in her knee pop from the sudden force on her leg. As Hayley fell, she couldn't hear the heavy breathing that usually came from Eraser's. Whoever grabbed Hayley's leg wasn't an Eraser, but she didn't know what. But the dislocation of her knee and the pain from the sudden movement on her shoulder caused Hayley to fall into a pool of darkness before her limp body had even hit the litter of the forest floor.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 

"Iggy, please wake up. Come on Ig," there was a voice sobbing Iggy's name and asking him to wake up. Iggy instantly recognised the voice as Hayley's. He sat up like a shot and unnecessarily opened his eyes, but something was different. Instead of the usual darkness Iggy could see, he could see a bright white light. The bright light gradually faded and Iggy could make out objects. He could see the door, he could see the window. He could see.

"Iggy?" Hayley whispered from beside him. Iggy whipped his head around and say Hayley standing beside him; he was lying on a bed. The second he laid eyes on Hayley, it was like he had been given his sight back all over again.

Hayley's skin had a perfect glow to it, her lips were a soft pink and her eyes, and God her eyes were amazing. Iggy blinked twice to be sure that his own eyes weren't deceiving him. Those emerald green orbs were sparkling with joy; tiny pools were forming in her eyes as she stared intensely into Iggy's clear blue ones.

A single tear fell from one eye. Before Hayley had a chance to react, Iggy had reached out a hand and wiped the tear away with his thumb.

Confusion flooded Hayley's face as she thought it was impossible for Iggy to possibly see.

"Iggy?" Hayley asked uncertainly yet a hint of fear evident in her voice. Iggy tore his eyes away from Hayley and looked down at his hands, hard and pale. He flexed his fingers and turned his hands around, studying every muscle movement, every stretch of skin in his hands.

Iggy looked up from his hands and took in the room he was in. He didn't recognise anything, well how could he? He had been blind for as long as he could remember. Searching around, he tried to find Hayley's beautiful face again. But it wasn't there, Hayley was gone already.

In Hayley's place stood a tall white coat shining a light in Iggy's eyes. Iggy tried to cry out but I gloved hand was placed over his mouth with unnecessary force.

"Don't worry son, this may or may not hurt," the white-coat shrugged as he lowered a blade towards Iggy's eyes.

* * *

"NO!" Iggy sat up in his bed, startling Dr. M and Max who were standing by the door, as if about to leave.

"Don't worry Ig, we'll be back in a few," Max joked slightly but she soon shut up after a warning glare from her mother.

"Hayley, where is she?" Iggy demanded, from the mother and daughter who were looking at him with sorrowful expressions. Iggy moved to get out of the bed fast but was instantly slowed by the stiffness in his bones.

"Iggy you need to rest," Dr. M explained. Iggy shook his head; he couldn't rest when Hayley was stuck with those scum-bag Erasers.

"Not until we find Hayley!" Iggy protested. Dr. M seemed surprised by Iggy's statement.

"Iggy, how much do you remember?" Max asked cautiously, stepping away from the door and towards him. Iggy sat back down on the edge of the bed and rubbed his hands over his face with a sigh.

"We were ambushed, I got Hayley in the air, they pulled her down and then I think I hit a tree or something because I can't remember anymore," Iggy explained wearing an anguished expression.

"What do you mean they pulled Hayley down? You didn't get her to the tree line?" Max quizzed frantically.

"Like I said Max, we were in the middle of the forest, we were lost. We were nowhere near the tree line! Why? What happened?" Iggy demanded, his temper getting short.

"Come and I'll bring you to see Hayley," Dr. M announced sadly, she could tell how stressed Iggy was about Hayley's well-being. The boy was ripping himself in two in front of her eyes.

Iggy stood up a little too fast and had a short moment of dizziness before his head cleared. Iggy followed the sound of Dr. M and Max's footsteps as they made their way down the hallway and into Hayley, Max and Nudge's bedroom.

"Now, you have to be easy with her, don't ask too much of her. She is still weak and hasn't stood up yet," Dr. M lay down the rules when something struck Iggy.

"Dr. M, how long has it been?" Iggy asked, dreading the answer.

"Iggy, you have been out a whole week. Hayley woke up yesterday," Dr. M choked out before opening the door up for Iggy. Iggy stepped in, relieved for a couple of minutes with Hayley. Dr. M remained professional and gave Iggy and Hayley some privacy while she ushered Max and the audience of bird kids down the stairs.

The sound of Dr. M closing the door was enough to rouse Hayley from her light slumber. It took a lot longer for her eyes to focus on anything, but when they did she couldn't help but break into a huge grin no matter how much it hurt.

"How you holding up?" Iggy asked as he crouched down on his knees beside Hayley's bed and took her hand in his. Hayley had to move her hand so Iggy could find it easily.

"Nothing soap and water can't cure," Hayley smiled. Iggy laughed softly, he knew Hayley was seriously injured; she just didn't want him to know that it was worse than what he figured.

"I think I got off easy," Iggy sighed sadly as he ran a tender finger down the side of Hayley's face.

"Don't think like that," Hayley scolded him, placing her hand over his on her check.

"While I was out, I had and a dream," Iggy said softly.

"What about?" Hayley wondered. Iggy took a shuddered breath and held Hayley's hand.

"I was on an operating table, and I woke up hearing someone calling me. I knew it was you, and when I opened my eyes, I could actually see. I looked over at you and saw the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, and will ever see,"

"Oh Iggy," Hayley sighed in a slight daze placing her hand on his cheek.

"But then you were gone, and all I could see were scientists and-" Iggy was cut off by Hayley's lips on his. Iggy leaned into the kiss, all memories of his nightmare gone.

A sharp intake of breath caused Iggy to break the kiss immediately and jump away from Hayley.

"Oh my God, Hayley I'm so sorry, did I hurt you?" Iggy asked frantically, his hands on the side of his head, unsure of what to do to help.

"Ig, relax I'm fine," Hayley couldn't help but laugh slightly at how much he cared.

"I'll let you get some rest," Iggy nodded his head as if lecturing himself.

"Okay," Hayley mumbled, pulling the bed covers up to her neck. The throbbing in her stomach wasn't sub-siding like it usually did. Iggy had hurt her, he had leant down too far and put pressure on her stomach, but Hayley didn't want Iggy to know that so she pretended like nothing had happened.

All she wanted to do was crawl up in a ball in cry until she was all patched up again, but simply moving was too much for Hayley. Leaning towards Iggy to kiss him was the first ream movement Hayley had done without help. Iggy was only six-inches from her face, but that is beside the point.

Hayley closed her eyes and, once again was faced with the nightmares that had been intoxicating her mind for the past week.

* * *

"He lives!" Gazzy declared as Iggy entered the kitchen. Iggy smiled slightly as he made his way to the table, taking all the help he could get from the counters and the backs of chairs.

"Barely," Iggy sighed as he sat down heavily in the wooden chair.

"Just in time for breakfast," Dr M declared as she slid a bowl of cereal in Iggy's direction. Iggy found a spoon to his right and dug into the food as if he hadn't eaten in an age, which in bird-kid days, he hadn't.

"So how is-?" Ella began but trailed off. Ella not liking Hayley was clear, but the last thing she wanted was for her to die.

"Still pretty beat up," Iggy shrugged, trying to act like he wasn't fazed by it, but inside the guilt of not being able to save Hayley was slowly eating him. Iggy felt like he should be the one practically on their death bed, not Hayley. She didn't deserve this.

"Don't blame yourself Iggy," Angel said sadly, clearly reading his mind.

"Get out of my damn head Angel," Iggy growled through gritted teeth. Angel felt her eyes rim with tears as she ran to Max and hugged her.

"Ig," Max gasped, shocked at how heartless Iggy was to the little girl who only wanted to help. "She was only trying to help,"

"Well I don't want her help," Iggy declared, silencing the room.

"Come on," Fang's low voice broke the silence as he pulled Iggy from his chair and led him out the back door. Iggy let out a cry of frustration before running and taking a leap into the air, ripping out his wings and flying high above the trees.

Fang came up silently beside him, watching, waiting for Iggy to calm down.

"It's not your fault man," Fang said almost silently once they had stopped flying. Iggy was sitting on a branch about twenty feet in the air, Fang leaning against the trunk and where the branch connected with the tree.

"You weren't there," Iggy muttered darkly, running his hands through his blond hair in frustration.

"No, but I know you would have done everything in your power to save her, and you did," Fang compromised.

"I didn't save her, why does everybody keep saying that!" Iggy cried out in anger.

"What are you talking about?" Fang asked, leaning up from the tree, now confused.

"I didn't save her, I mean I had her, but somebody took her from me and I heard her fall and I can't remember after that," Iggy mumbled helplessly.

"Well how did you guys get back?" Fang continued, trying to work things out in his head. So far, both Hayley and Iggy were both on conscious after the Eraser attack, so how the Hell did they both end up on the roof of Dr. M's car that was parked in the driveway that afternoon.

"Did you guys not turn up?" Iggy asked, lifting his head and turning slightly towards Fang.

"Iggy we found you guys covered in blood passed out on the hood of Dr. M's car," Fang shook his head, none of this made sense. "Ig, what was the very last thing you remember?"

"Well, Hayley fell, I heard her hit the ground. But the Eraser's, they weren't cheering or happy to have her. There was just silence. You know what, I don't even think there were any Eraser's there," Iggy, like Fang, was trying to piece together all the new information.

"Who else was there?" Fang wondered aloud. Iggy just shook his head, lost for words.

* * *

"Subject 537 and Subject 415 are in place, Sir,"

"Leave them for a while longer, don't send the Erasers in just yet," Sir decided, in a thick French accent.

"But Sir, we have not had both experiments apart for over a month. This may be our only chance," argued the woman at the computer as she turned in her chair to look at Sir. She had her back to the fifteen different computer screens, each filled with live, archived, or details on subjects 537 and 415. Subject 537 was currently resting in a bed just under 5,000 meters away from Subject 415, who was perching in a tree with Subject 410.

Nobody in the surveillance lab was interested in the other subjects, just 415 and 537. Everything was going as planned. Both experiments trust one another, it would be too easy to penetrate the 'Flock', as they liked to call themselves, too easy to kill them all.

Sir looked at the surveillance cameras for another moment.

"Leave them be," Sir nodded to himself as he began to turn away before a stopping as a thought occurred. "That is an order sergeant!" Sir spat out, before slipping away from the stressed-filled room.

* * *

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